(1944). Psychoanalytic Quarterly, 13:131 The author presents a concise summary, condensed from previous publications, of her extensive studies on two hundred obese children. Examination showed, in addition to the obesity, precocious development in height, bone structure and intelligence, early puberty, and elevation of the basal metabolic rate. These findings definitely explode the myth that endocrine hypofunction is the chief cause of obesity. The dominant emotional patterns in the children consisted of aggressive demands on the mother for feeding, dressing, and toilet care; avoidance of physical activity, sports and social contacts; greed in areas other than food (e.g. addiction to movies); and lack of open aggression to persons other than the mother. None of the children ate a well-balanced diet and generally they preferred starches. The family patterns were quite uniform. In general, the fathers were weak and unaggressive. The mothers frequently gave histories of early emotional deprivation, poverty and hunger. Their attitudes toward the children were ambivalent, combining overprotection and anxiety with overt hostility at the child's demands. The mothers consciously hoped to possess the exclusive love of their children by keeping them in a state of perpetual babyhood. They actively encouraged the children to overeat. Food seemed to symbolize love to both mother and child and also acted as a reassurance to the child against many anxieties arising from his social ostracism and his sexual conflicts. The author believes that such children enjoy their obesity and utilize it to fantasy that they are big, powerful and therefore safe. She concludes that 'obesity in childhood represents a disturbance in personality in which excessive bodily size becomes the expressive organ of the conflict'. Dr. Bruch is to be highly commended for placing the study of obesity on a rational basis.
Article Citation [Who Cited This?]Vander, A.H. (1944). Obesity in Childhood and Personality Development. Psychoanal Q., 13:131 |
